SEN. HAWLEY: Chavez-DeRemer Is The Realization Of Trump’s Pro-Worker Platform

For decades, both Democrats and Republicans put the interests of Wall Street over the interests of hardworking American families. From corporate tax cuts to international trade deals, the D.C. establishment went out of its way to do the bidding of Big Business. And workers paid the price.

That all changed with Donald Trump. He offered a different vision — redefining the GOP as the party of working people, winning victories on promises of better jobs, reshoring manufacturing and industry, and immigration policies that put American workers first. And my Republican colleagues in the Senate were happy to get on board.

Already, however, it seems the Old Thinking is rearing its head again. Some of my colleagues are balking at President Trump’s choice of Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Secretary of Labor. As her confirmation hangs in the balance, Republicans should resist the temptation to relapse into the destructive division between business and labor that sabotaged American workers for too long. If we care about the working class as we claim to, we must confirm the President’s pick.

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 19: Lori Chavez-DeRemer, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Labor Department, testifies during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on February 19, 2025 in Washington, DC. A former Republican member of Congress from Oregon, Chavez-DeRemer was questioned about her co-sponsorship for the pro-union Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which may earn her bipartisan support. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

As a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, I had the opportunity to question Chavez-DeRemer at a recent hearing. Her answers gave me confidence. I asked about her commitment to cracking down on corporations like Tyson Foods, which infringe on our labor laws by exploiting migrant children. Tyson also recently closed two major plants in my state, cancelled contracts with farmers, and put thousands of Missourians out of jobs. I asked Chavez-DeRemer if she would prosecute companies that violate our labor laws and abuse children — all while firing American workers. She vowed to “protect, and not exploit” all workers and said she would refuse to tolerate child labor in the United States.

I also pointed out how under the Biden Administration, foreign workers saw more growth than American workers. In just one month, 370,000 illegal immigrants crossed the border, many of whom received work permits and started competing with American workers and legal residents, including union members. Chavez-DeRemer emphasized that protecting American workers was a top priority for President Trump.

There’s nothing more conservative than being supportive of working people. We’ve seen the dystopian results of the opposite: shuttered factories, a gutted rust belt, flatlined wages, soaring mortgage costs, usurious credit card interest rates, and plunging home values. Americans suffer in low-paying, dead-end jobs, while struggling to come up with outrageous sums for housing and health care. Is it any surprise that marriage and birth rates are plummeting? Those who do manage to have children often can’t afford to be home with them.

Rebuilding America requires a flourishing family life. It means making it easy to have children, restoring parents as the pillars of home life, and making it our mission to ensure American workers can earn a family wage. The dignity of a decent job and a steady income is the first step.

This is exactly the kind of pro-worker, America-first labor policy voters wanted when they elected President Trump. Lori Chavez-DeRemer fits Trump’s vision. I’m proud to support his nominee. My colleagues should do the same.